More than a month after TLC announced it was cutting ties with Counting On cast member Derick Dillard, the Duggar husband is denying he was fired.
Dillard, the husband of Jill (Duggar) Dillard, had gotten in trouble with the network several times due to his comments about I Am Jazz star Jazz Jennings, and in November, the network said they had no plans to work with him in the future.
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But in a tweet Friday, Dillard claims it was his decision to not appear on the show.
Unbelievable what’s considered newsworthy these days, but then again, this is how I first heard that I was “fired”. For the record, I was never fired. I just felt it best for my family to cut ties months ago, as we are heading in a different direction. https://t.co/XUFD3i5arj
— Derick Dillard (@derickmdillard) December 15, 2017
“Unbelievable what’s considered newsworthy these days,” he said, retweeting a month-old Fox News story about his firing, “but then again this is how I first heard the news that I was ‘fired.’ For the record, I was never fired. I just felt it best for my family to cut ties months ago, as we are heading in a different direction.”
On Nov. 11, TLC released a statement about Dillard:
“We want to let our viewers know that Derick Dillard has not participated in Counting On for months and the network has no plans to feature him in the future,” the network said. “We want to reiterate that Derick’s personal statements do not reflect the views of the network. TLC is proud to share the story of Jazz Jennings and her family and will continue to do so.”
Two days prior, Dillard had tweeted transphobic statements about the teen.
“I pity Jazz, [for] those who take advantage of him in order [to] promote their agenda, including the parents who allow these kinds of decisions [to] be made by a child,” he wrote on Twitter. “It’s sad that [people] would use a juvenile this way. Again, nothing against him, just unfortunate what’s on tv these days.”
In the past, he had been accused of bullying the young girl, saying, “What an oxymoron… a ‘reality’ show which follows a non-reality. ‘Transgender’ is a myth. Gender is not fluid; it’s ordained by God.”
